It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the November 14, 2005 meeting be approved as written. Motion carried unanimously.

III. Report of the Dean (J. Thomas)

Dean Thomas introduced Leslie Higgins as the new Student Government representative to Graduate Council.

Enrollment figures appear very strong. Winter quarter data indicate an increase of 4.4 % in headcount, and an increase of 3.9 % in graduate credit hours.

Programs are encouraged to nominate their top students for Graduate Council Scholarships. The progran features a stipend of $12,000 and tuition remission for up to two years. Accelerated awards may be made for exceptional students. The Graduate Council Student Affairs Committee selects the remaining awards. Typically, five awards are presented per academic year. Nominations should be sent to Dean Thomas.

Noel-Levitz consulting firm has been on campus to review and advise on WSU’s recruitment strategies and enrollment goals.

Provost Hopkins discussed the importance of future enrollment growth in Ohio’s institutions of higher learning, from both the University’s and the state’s perspectives. Enrollment growth over the next five years will be very important because of impending changes in funding by state government. A taxpayer expenditure limitation (TEL), which will appear as a constitutional amendment on the November 2006 ballot, is a serious concern for all state universities because it limits nearly all spending, not just that derived from state subsidy. The Innovation Incentive program, part of the FY 06 budget bill, will provide new funds to match internal reallocations into STEM-related Ph.D. pograms. This provides an opportunitty to focus and strengthen doctoral programs.

Provost Hopkins stated that J. Thomas is relinquishing his Vice President for Research duties; however, he will retain the position of Dean, School of Graduate Studies. J. Thomas plans to retire within the next two years, and this would allow for a good transition period. Wright State will soon launch a search for a new Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. L. Howard will be chairing the search committee.

IV. Committee Reports

• Policies Committee (L. Ream)

The Master of Public Health (MPH) Program requested that the number of quarter hours required for completion of the MPH degree be increased by four (4), from 52 to 56 hours. MPH is seeking professional program accreditation, and this change is required to satisfy accreditation requirements. This change was unanimously approved by the Policies Committee.

The Environmental Sciences Ph.D. Program proposed changes in its curriculum, particularly in the foundation (core) course area. This modified some degree requirements; however, the total number of credits required for completion of the Ph.D. degree remains the same at 135 hours (or 90 hours for students who possess an appropriate Master of Science degree). This has been unamimously approved by the Policies Commiitee.

The Policies Committeee recommended that effective Fall quarter 2006, electronic format be required for thesis and dissertation (ETD) submission. ETD’s will be submitted to OhioLINK in Columbus for deposit. A specific policy has been drafted for inclusion in the SoGS Policies and Procedures Manual. The change to require ETD‘s was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved by the Graduate Council.

• Membership Committee (J. Thomas)

The Committee met February 7, 2006 and considered and recommended 5 nominations for full graduate faculty membership and 2 nominations for adjunct full graduate faculty membership.

The full member nominees are:

Finegan, Colleen

Teacher Ed/ED&HS

Huang, Chaocheng

Math & Stats/S&M

Huang, Qingbo

Math & Stats/S&M

Kinateder, Kimberly

Math & Stats/S&M

Wang, Weizhen

Math & Stats/S&M

The adjunct full nominees are:

Kolonay, Raymond

MME/EGR&CS

Sritharan, Subramania

Environ Sci/S&M

It was moved and seconded that the nominees be approved; the motion passed unanimously.

Research Council (W. Sellers)

In the Early Start/Augmentation segment of the Research Challenge Program, figures between Fall 2002 and Fall 2005 show an average of 13 awards of 44 submitted proposals, with an average total award amount of over $234,000.

Awards for this fiscal year are down from last year. However, this is partly due to delayd account set-up and entry of awards into the Banner system.

Effective February, 2007, NIH will require electronic submission of grants through grants.gov. Procedural changes are now being communicated to faculty members affected by this change.

V. New Business

Two members of the Graduate Council volunteered to serve on Dean Thomas’s Five-year Review Committee, Nikolaos Bourbakis and Tom Sudkamp, both from the CSE Department. After the meeting it was agreed that Robin Dodge would replace N. Bourbakis so that both would not be from the same department.

VI. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.